Obituary of Margit Somme

Margit Somme, born on the 21st of February 1915, in Hellesto, Norway, took her last breath at home on Saturday, May 13, 2017, at 11:04 PM. She was 102 years, 81 days old. She passed away at her home, Merrill Gardens of Tacoma, WA, where she had lived independently for nine years and made many, many friends. She will be missed in ways we do not even comprehend yet. Margit was a Mother, Tante (Aunt), Friend, or Grandmother to anyone in need.

She was a sensitive, sassy, funny, frugal, generous, direct, loving, aggravating, energetic, hard-working, loyal, cranky, Christian, Norwegian Republican. She could soothe and irritate by turn, making some of us only seek her company every other day. When her eyes twinkled with mischief, there was no guessing what might happen next. She liked to shock people with well-timed one-liners, the emphatic smash of her tiny fist on a table, or very rarely, a tiny little curse under her breath that made one either gasp in horror, or roll with laughter.

Margit loved to dance. She loved pink and sparkle and was all about accessorizing. Margit was an excellent cook despite the loss of her sense of smell at the age of 15. She taught her grandchildren to make Hardanger lefse, Krumkake, Bolle, doughnuts, Kransekake, Fyrstekake, Blotkake.

We often thought she must be bullet-proof—nothing could take her down. She survived her childhood home burning to the ground, losing her father to the American Dream for twenty years, helping her mother raise her six younger siblings during the Depression; the German-occupation of Norway, losing most of her dominant hand in an American industrial accident; the death of the love of her life, Monrad; learning that both her children suffered from a genetic brain disorder; breast cancer, skin cancer, hip replacement, the murder of her niece, the deaths of all six of her siblings, and the death of her first-born, Reidun.

A pesky gall stone was the beginning of the end, but she was ready to go. She loved the Lord and was tired of taking vitamins and beating the pants off everyone at Mexican Train (dominoes).